April 25, 2014 is National Arbor Day
Today is National Arbor Day but each state may celebrate on another day depending on the annual planting schedule. Find Your State Holiday date.
The history of National Arbor Day is very interesting. Click here for more History.
We celebrate Arbor Day because of a tree lover named Julius Sterling Morton.
Morton was born in Adams, New York, in 1832.
In 1854, Morton married Caroline Joy French in Detroit and they headed west but
his life took a decisive turn on his wedding day in October 1854. After he and his
bride, Caroline Joy French were married in Detroit, they headed west to the
territory of Nebraska where they moved to a 160 acre treeless parcel. Morton
raised his family here and planted hundreds of trees on his home called Morton
Ranch; Apple, Peach, Plum,Pear, Cottonwood, Beechwood and Evergreens.
Morton worked as a journalist, a politician, and as acting Governor for the
Nebraska Territory and his love for planting trees spread across the land. In 1893
Morton was appointed by President Cleveland as the US Secretary of
Agriculture.
In 1885 Arbor Day had become a legal holiday in Nebraska and has become a
state holiday across the entire US. It has always been celebrated by the planting
of trees and parades were very popular for many years.
Morton died on April 27, 1902. His last entry in his journal was that he was
planning to plant some trees as soon as the weather warmed up a bit.
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